Seth Rogen’s film crew sets up at Max’s in Northside
A comedy film starring Seth Rogen will wrap up production in the Northside this month.
By Ashlee Green
The production crew for an untitled comedy film starring Seth Rogen closed down Max’s Allegheny Tavern on Suismon Street for several days starting on Thursday, Dec. 6, to shoot a bar scene. According to a liaison for the production, the crew will wrap up filming in the Northside by the end of the month.
“Pittsburgh has really opened its arms to us and embraced the production,” she said. “Everywhere we’ve filmed in Pittsburgh, people have been wonderful.”
The film has a dual storyline: Part of it takes place in 1919, the other in 2019. It is reportedly based on a short, satirical story by humorist Simon Rich called “Sell Out,” which appears in his collection titled “Spoiled Brats.” It’s about a Jewish man named Herschel who works in a Brooklyn-based pickle factory, falls into vat of brine and is preserved for a century. Once he comes back to life, he lives with his great grandson of the same name, who works as a computer coder in modern-day Brooklyn.
Locations in Pittsburgh, and the Northside in particular, were chosen for scenes in the film based on their looks and accessibility: how close they are to the film production office, how easy it is to haul equipment in and out of them and how accommodating business owners and customers are to the demands of a sometimes irregular shooting schedule.
“All of our locations have a really specific look which adds to the flavor of the film,” the production liaison said. Pittsburgh, as a whole, is breaking the assumptions of crew members.
“People have a certain idea of what they think Pittsburgh is, and then they’re [surprised when] it’s so different than what they expected.” She said the film crew has been shopping locally as well.
“We add to the economic development here.”
The film is set to be released by Sony Pictures around 2020.
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